Robert Castillo v. DOUGLAS A. COLLINS, Secretary of Veterans Af- fairs

N OTE: This order is nonprecedential.
United States Court of Appeals
for the Federal Circuit
______________________
ROBERT CASTILLO,
Claimant-Appellant
v.
DOUGLAS A. COLLINS, Secretary of Veterans Af-
fairs,
Respondent-Appellee
______________________
2025-1126
______________________
Appeal from the United States Court of Appeals for
Veterans Claims in No. 24-3611.
______________________
Before D YK, P ROST , and CHEN, Circuit Judges.
P ER CURIAM .
O R D E R
In response to this court’s show cause order, the Secre-
tary of Veterans Affairs urges dismissal of this appeal as
premature. Robert Castillo responds in favor of this court’s
jurisdiction.
The Secretary moved to dismiss Mr. Castillo’s pending
case before the United States Court of Appeals for Veterans
Claims for want of jurisdiction. On July 26, 2024, that
court directed Mr. Castillo to respond and submit a copy of
Case: 25-1126 Document: 15 Page: 1 Filed: 03/19/2025

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CASTILLO v. COLLINS 2
the decision which he sought to appeal, and otherwise
stayed proceedings. Mr. Castillo responded and shortly
thereafter filed an appeal to this court from the July 26,
2024 order. Meanwhile, the underlying proceedings, in-
cluding the motion to dismiss, remain pending.
Generally, this court has jurisdiction only over a final
decision by the Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims. Al-
len v. Principi, 237 F.3d 1368, 1372 (Fed. Cir. 2001). A de-
cision is final only when it “ends the litigation on the merits
and leaves nothing for the court to do but execute the judg-
ment.” Id. (internal quotation marks and citation omitted).
The Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims’s July 26, 2024
order is not such an order, as that court clearly contem-
plated additional proceedings before final resolution.
Accordingly,
I T I S O RDERED T HAT :
(1) The appeal is dismissed as premature.
(2) Each party shall bear its own costs.
March 19, 2025
Date
F OR THE COURT
Case: 25-1126 Document: 15 Page: 2 Filed: 03/19/2025

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